29 May 2015

Dear Fender...about the amp section of your site

I couldn’t find a way to submit website feedback on the Fender site, so I’m posting it here.

On 29 May 2015, I got a marketing e-mail from Fender entitled: The Ideal Amp For Your Sound. Here’s a brief outline of the contents:

  • The ultimate amp for creativity
    Mustang™ I (V.2)
    ...easy to record, edit, store and share your music.
  • Affordable onstage versatility
    Champion™ 40
    ...an ideal choice as your first stage amp.
  • Beautiful acoustic amplification
    Acoustasonic™ 90
    ...perfect for the acoustic guitarist...
  • The standard for gigging guitarists
    Blues Junior™ III
    ...ideal for the go-anywhere guitarist who needs to hit the stage or studio at a moment’s notice.
  • Clear, deep and powerful
    ’68 Custom Twin Reverb®

This is great! (And the full e-mail was even better without being too wordy.) It’s a real shame that—as a marketing e-mail—so few of your potential customers will receive this. And even for most of them, it will likely end up in their spam folder.

This is exactly what I should—but never have—found when I go to your web site and click on amplifiers. The site is great for someone who already knows your products. It does nothing, however, to help the customer who is trying to figure out what Fender amp is right for them.

I usually spend a while digging around trying to figure out why I might want one of your amps over another...but I end up frustrated and none the wiser for my time investment.

Make this e-mail the starting point for the guitar amp section of your site.† I’m sure you could make it even better. (If nothing else, the Twin Reverb® section doesn’t say what sort of guitarist it is good for like the other sections do.) Then back up each of those selections with another page that explains what other Fender amps that kind of guitarist might also consider and why.

(†Don’t lose the navigation that allows those who know what they want to go directly to it, of course. That’s a strength that you want to keep.)

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